Real Madrid may not have enjoyed the perfect season in terms of trophies, but the club’s academy continues to deliver reasons for optimism.One of the biggest positive moments from the 1-0 victory ov...
Sweden boss Graham Potter has revealed Tottenham's Dejan Kulusevski has made "progress" on his road to recovery but the World Cup comes too soon for the midfielder. Kulusevski was left out of Sweden's squad for this summer's tournament on Tuesday after 12 months on the sidelines with a right patella injury. Back in March, after Kulusevski had a second procedure on the long-standing problem, he declared his "knee is great now" and had targeted an unlikely appearance at the major international tournament, but Potter officially ended the dreams of the 26-year-old this week.
Wherever Lawrence Shankland goes, there is no escaping title talk. Never in his wildest dreams did the striker expect to be two games from Premiership glory when he ended a summer of speculation by signing a new three-year deal last summer. Hearts can even be crowned champions tonight – if they beat Falkirk at home and Celtic lose at Motherwell – and captain Shankland is adopting a tunnel-vision approach.
It was the city of Hull where Millwall’s dreams of the top flight last came true all the way back in 1988. Kevin O’Callaghan’s penalty at the old Boothferry Park a mile across town was enough to ensure a 1-0 victory and promotion to the First Division. So with Hull the opponents again and the stakes at their highest, this felt like something of an omen.But in the end, the events in East Yorkshire this time around nearly 40 years on from one of their greatest triumphs will ultimately be consigned to a footnote in this tie. All the drama and the headlines will instead unfold in south London on Monday evening after a first leg that was littered with tension, but shy of genuine moments that could decide the promotion fortunes of these teams. Continue reading...
Bournemouth take their 15-game unbeaten streak to west London, where they face Fulham on Saturday (15:00 BST). Since Fulham beat Spurs on 1 March to record three wins in a row in all competitions, the goals have dried up for the Cottagers, whose dreams of Europe are now also in danger of evaporating. Fulham had only failed to score in five of their first 28 league games this season but have now not found the net in five of their last seven.
Gibbs-White’s nasty facial injury puts his participation in doubt but, for the sake of the occasion, we can only hope the two star playmakers are ready to fire in Thursday’s seismic Europa League semi-final showdown
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s trickery and imagination in Munich gave a reminder of the challenge facing Arsenal in the finalWell, it was never going to be quite the same. You only get one all-time high, one first kiss, one Catcher in the Rye, one loved-up alien-ball dreamscape of a game like the first leg between these two teams.In the event Bayern Munich never really laid a glove on Paris Saint-Germain at the Allianz Arena. They trailed from the third minute to Ousmane Dembélé’s goal, drew level on the night through Harry Kane at the death, but looked in between like a team trying to generate energy from a standing start, always kept at one remove by the extended arm, the palm on their forehead, fists whirling in the empty air between. Continue reading...
